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Description
ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines how high school art teachers conceive of being a good art teacher. Motivated by my own experiences as an art teacher, I designed this study to add teachers' voices to the conversation surrounding quality in education. My research design included a narrative strand and an arts-based strand. In the narrative strand, I interviewed and observed 12 high school art educators from a major city in the southwest. I conducted an autoethnographic reflection exploring my connection to the research topic and research process. In the arts-based strand I used fiber-arts to further understand my topic. I wrote this dissertation using a narrative approach, blending the traditional research format, voices of participants, and my autoethnographic reflection. I included the results of my arts-based approach in the final chapter. Findings suggest that the teachers in this study conceptualize being a good art teacher as a process of identity construction. Each of the teachers understood what it meant to be a good art teacher in unique ways, connected to their personal experiences and backgrounds. As the teachers engaged in identity work to become the kind of art teacher they wanted to be, they engaged in a process of identity construction that consisted of four steps. I propose a model of identity construction in which the teachers chose teaching practices, evaluated those practices, identified challenges to their identities, and selected strategies to confirm, assert, or defend their desired identities. The findings have implications for teachers to become reflective practitioners; for teacher educators to prepare teachers to engage in reflective practices; and for administrators and policy makers to take into account the cyclical and personal nature of identity construction. This study also has implications for further research including the need to examine the dispositions of art teachers, teachers' evolving conceptions of what it means to be a good art teacher, and the effect labeling teachers' quality has on their identity construction.
ContributorsAndrelchik, Hillary (Author) / Erickson, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Young, Bernard (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Through the disciplines of art education, anthropology and psychology the researcher examined research-based traits and characteristics of the creative process among a second year Title 1 urban high school art class. Within the theoretical framework of social justice, this micro-ethnographic study explored exactly what teaching and learning to be creative implies and proposes a potential resolution for art teachers learning how to enhance teaching children how to think creatively. The research proposition is that student creativity occurs as a function of a series of interrelated factors including a nurturing classroom context, strong teacher-student dialogue, strategic questioning, purposeful incorporation of visual culture, and manipulation of content in favor of student interests within the culturally situated context of the art classroom. Navigating teacher-student relationships at moments of creative origination produced results indicating that the art teacher alone is the single most influential factor for enhancing creative outcomes in a classroom. Through incorporation of a variety of collaborative activities and comparative analysis of dissimilar content-driven projects generated evidence that artistic skills and creativity do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. The study finds that the artworks produced evidence based nuances of the creative traits of originality, fluency, flexibility, and elaboration in which profoundly varied in character depending on the content and the context. The study concludes that creativity cannot be strictly taught or learned, but rather that it can be enhanced through teacher nurturing and manipulation of content to encompass a socially intelligent uptake in the culture of art-making. Broader implications are suggested focusing on the significance of creative education and the impact it can have for educational systems, schools and undergraduate programs in art education. The researcher proposes an art education curriculum model that fosters both creative thinking and the unique learning needs of Title 1 urban students. The curriculum suggests the art teacher begin initial instruction by teaching students about the traits, characteristics and obstructions of creativity prior to teaching artistic skills sets to serve as a foundation of creative awareness from the start.
ContributorsForeman, Angela (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Black Rock City is a temporary city existing for one week in the harsh desert of northern Nevada. It plays host to the Burning Man festival with over 300 large-scale art installations and is considered to be the largest interactive art festival in the world. Besides the main burn, smaller local regional events have developed. These regional events encompass many of the same tenets as Burning Man including the presentation of large-scale art. Burn2 is the regional event held on the virtual world, Second Life. In 2013, both events used the theme of Cargo Cult as a stepping off point for the artists. Through the lens of spectacle, I used art criticism as a way to gain understanding of the artworks.
Art criticism is a means of interpreting and appreciating artwork and is often used in the art classroom. Edmund Feldman's method promotes a deeper understanding of art and consists of four steps: description, formal analysis, interpretation and judgment. Using Feldman's method, I analyzed three artworks from the 2013 Burning Man festival and three works from Burn2. From interviews, photographs, and personal observations I analyzed the artworks. I used external analysis to compare the literature on similar festivals and the artworks with other events held in the real life and virtual world.
I found in both events very similar concepts and themes. Artists had specific subject matter in mind when designing their installations. Artists used the theme as a stepping off point for rationalizing their content. Art made to be displayed at Burning Man was expensive; funding was a concern for all the artists. Burn2 artists were free from funding concerns even though there were expenses to making art in Second Life. Emerging themes were use of building materials and color, use of electronics and computer technology, art installations in festivals, spectacle, collaboration, and interactivity. Further implications included teaching about the engineering of structures, critical thinking about festival themes and the individual art installations, visual culture, and art making with these emerging art forms.
Art criticism is a means of interpreting and appreciating artwork and is often used in the art classroom. Edmund Feldman's method promotes a deeper understanding of art and consists of four steps: description, formal analysis, interpretation and judgment. Using Feldman's method, I analyzed three artworks from the 2013 Burning Man festival and three works from Burn2. From interviews, photographs, and personal observations I analyzed the artworks. I used external analysis to compare the literature on similar festivals and the artworks with other events held in the real life and virtual world.
I found in both events very similar concepts and themes. Artists had specific subject matter in mind when designing their installations. Artists used the theme as a stepping off point for rationalizing their content. Art made to be displayed at Burning Man was expensive; funding was a concern for all the artists. Burn2 artists were free from funding concerns even though there were expenses to making art in Second Life. Emerging themes were use of building materials and color, use of electronics and computer technology, art installations in festivals, spectacle, collaboration, and interactivity. Further implications included teaching about the engineering of structures, critical thinking about festival themes and the individual art installations, visual culture, and art making with these emerging art forms.
ContributorsKrecker, Linda Susan (Author) / Stokrocki, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Young, Bernard (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Adolescents' clay sculpture has been researched significantly less than their drawings. I spent approximately six weeks in a ceramics class located at a high school in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona in order to explore how gender affected subject matter preference in students' three dimensional clay sculpture. Gender studies on children's drawings reveal that males favor fantasy, violence, aggression, sports, and power, while females favor realism, domestic and social experience, physical appearance, care and concern, nature and animals. My three main research questions in this study were 1) How did gender affect subject matter in adolescents' three-dimensional clay sculpture? 2) What similarities or differences existed between females' and males' subject matter preference in sculpture and their subject matter preference in drawing? 3) Assuming that significant gender differences existed, how successful would the students be with a project that favored opposite gender themed subject matter? I found that although males and females had gender differences between subject matter in their clay sculptures, there were exceptions. In addition, the nature of clay affected this study in many ways. Teachers and students need to be well prepared for issues that arise during construction of clay sculptures so that students are able to use clay to fully express their ideas.
ContributorsMarsili, Teresa (Author) / Stokrocki, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Young, Bernard (Committee member) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In response to the recent publication and media coverage of several books that support educating boys and girls separately, more public schools in the United States are beginning to offer same-sex schooling options. Indeed, students may be more comfortable interacting solely with same-sex peers, as boys and girls often have difficulty in their interactions with each other; however, given that boys and girls often interact beyond the classroom, researchers must discover why boys and girls suffer difficult other-sex interactions and determine what can be done to improve them. We present two studies aimed at examining such processes. Both studies were conducted from a dynamical systems perspective that highlights the role of variability in dyadic social interactions to capture temporal changes in interpersonal coordination. The first focused on the utility of applying dynamics to the study of same- and mixed-sex interactions and examined the relation of the quality of those interactions to participants' perceptions of their interaction partners. The second study was an extension of the first, examining how dynamical dyadic coordination affected students' self-perceived abilities and beliefs in science, with the intention of examining social predictors of girls' and women's under-representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
ContributorsDiDonato, Matthew D (Author) / Martin, Carol L (Thesis advisor) / Amazeen, Polemnia G (Committee member) / Hanish, Laura D. (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This study gathers the expertise of three reputable art teachers, through analysis of qualitative data collected during in-person interviews and classroom observations, as they share their experiences and insights regarding successful methods of motivating and engaging students in their beginning-level art classes. Various works of literature regarding educational motivation are reviewed, and this study begins to address the need for additional research involving this issue, as it applies to teachers of art. Commonalities between the motivational tactics of the participating teachers are discussed, as well as comparison of findings to existing literature. This may be useful to art teachers who are new to the field or who are seeking information regarding successful methods of encouraging motivation and engagement in their beginning -level art classes.
ContributorsClark, Erica (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Art museums are institutions with a mission to not only preserve art and culture for the public, but to provide visitors with an educational experience. This qualitative case study includes three art museums in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area: a university art museum, a large public museum in Downtown Phoenix, and a contemporary art museum in the city of Scottsdale. This research study sought to identify the ways in which eight art museum employees from the education and administration departments identify their institutions as educational. Data was collected and analyzed through the methods of direct observations and field notes, one-on-one interviews, and photographs of educational programming.
After examining these art museums and conducting eight interviews, a description of each observation is displayed using examples of photographs and field notes. Although findings suggest a variety of educational programs for a range of visitors in each institution, all three museums offered comparable programs, activities, and events. This research study revealed similar ideas, themes, and perspectives between art museum educators and administrators. Findings indicate the importance of collaboration between both museum departments in order to ensure the success of their museums. All eight participants in the study had a passion for art and art museums as well as visitor education. Additionally, participants had concurrent thoughts in their interviews regarding concepts of educational programming, cultural diversity approaches, art museum fundamental roles, and overall educational goals.
After examining these art museums and conducting eight interviews, a description of each observation is displayed using examples of photographs and field notes. Although findings suggest a variety of educational programs for a range of visitors in each institution, all three museums offered comparable programs, activities, and events. This research study revealed similar ideas, themes, and perspectives between art museum educators and administrators. Findings indicate the importance of collaboration between both museum departments in order to ensure the success of their museums. All eight participants in the study had a passion for art and art museums as well as visitor education. Additionally, participants had concurrent thoughts in their interviews regarding concepts of educational programming, cultural diversity approaches, art museum fundamental roles, and overall educational goals.
ContributorsLechner, Nicole (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Watts, Jamie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The role of an art educator is characteristically dualistic and paradoxical. Not only are most art educators trained as artists, but they also receive instruction on theories and practices used in art education. The purpose of the study was to examine how community college ceramic instructors identify themselves within their dual roles as teacher-artists. I studied if and how the teacher-artist places emphasis on one position over the other, or how they successfully synthesized these positions. I also investigated the phenomenon by considering the why, how and which role they accentuated, as well as it affects and influences on their creative and teaching activities. By using a feminist theory, the research uncovered information on how gender may or may not affect their careers, as well as their identities.
ContributorsKeele, Teresa (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Watts, Jamie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This qualitative research study was about art teachers’ perceptions and practices of cultural diversity and its implications for the U.S. The purpose of the study was to provide a rationale for the need for learning institutions to recognize the changing demographics and to respond to the potential educational implications of the new demographics as they prepare their art teachers to educate diverse student populations. The study involved six art teachers who teach in schools with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. To collect data, interviews with participants were transcribed and analyzed. Analysis of teacher interviews showed the importance of helping art teachers to obtain the skills, attitudes, dispositions and knowledge to work effectively with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The richness of the descriptions obtained from the interviews provides insight into multicultural art education in schools. The results of this study might help art educators and policy makers understand the need for more awareness of multicultural education and its impact on teachers, parents, administrators and students. This study concludes with suggestions on art education, including the need to develop curriculum that are inclusive to multicultural students, especially Islamic from cultures. Art education programs in universities should produce teachers who are prepared for the cultural diversity in their classrooms. It is essential that teachers accept and implement changes in their communities, in their schools, and in their teaching in order to better serve students of culturally diverse backgrounds.
ContributorsMasrya, Mawadah (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016